<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>We laid a lotta memories down like tattoos by Teenwolfbean</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678938">We laid a lotta memories down like tattoos</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teenwolfbean/pseuds/Teenwolfbean'>Teenwolfbean</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Nightmare Chronicles [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Good Theo Raeken, Hurt Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Protective Liam, Puppy Liam, Tattoos, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Thiam</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:27:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teenwolfbean/pseuds/Teenwolfbean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of The Nightmare Chronicles :<br/>Short stories of Theo's journey toward forgiveness and the growing love between two stupid super-natural boys / Or one-shots based on Theo´s experiences with nightmares and self-hatred and how he deals with that while falling in love with Liam</p><p> </p><p>Theo decides he wants a tattoo and drags Liam along. He didn't count on the pain to trigger him the way it does, luckily Liam is there to comfort him.<br/>Or we learn a little more about Theo's triggers and he realizes that continuing therapy might be a good idea.</p><p> </p><p>TRIGGER WARNING: Anxiety attack</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Nightmare Chronicles [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1407106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We laid a lotta memories down like tattoos</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/gifts">LI0NH34RT</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For someone who makes me happy even though they do not know me</p><p>Suprise bishes, bet you thought you had seen the last of me. It's mental illness innit woop;)<br/>Just gonna pop in with a lil hurt/comfort for the girls and the gays. </p><p>I am too old for this tbh. Adulthood is painful you guys, I don't recommend it. </p><p>Question: I haven't really written smut, but would you guys like me to try?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>We laid a lotta memories down like tattoos</strong>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Liam wakes up to a hard slap in the face. A blurry face is inches above his own, and he feels the pressure of a person on his bare chest.</p><p> </p><p>“What the mighty fuck,” he mumbles and blinks to find Theo’s large eyes staring into his.</p><p> </p><p>“Get up.”</p><p> </p><p>“This is literally domestic abuse,” Liam exclaims. </p><p> </p><p>Liam rolls to his side and Theo’s body follows along. The room smells of sweat and sleep and only a few sun rays peek through the dark curtains.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up,” Theo says, his mouth squeezed against Liam’s shoulder, leaving a small puddle of drool.</p><p> </p><p>“You know I would like you better if you weren’t all sleep traumatized.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, you wouldn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo is warm and soft. His hair smells like the orange-scented shampoo from the downstairs bathroom and a hint of Liam’s hair wax. Theo has grown comfortable around the house and had found out how much he could save by stealing Liam’s products - and clothes for that matter.</p><p>It is Saturday and Liam loves Saturday, it is truly the only day made fair to teenagers, but he had liked it a lot better when he got to sleep in. Now he was often brutally awoken by Theo or his mother who found it rude that he didn’t come down to eat with his boyfriend. Saturday is a pause in time; it is the vast space between reality and fantasy, where Liam can exist in any way he wished. Structure and norms are abrupt by the liveliness of hours with no given purpose. Liam likes to not fill this space, to simply exist in it, and let time float by at its own pace. Theo, however, thinks that those hours are to be spent as quickly and excitingly as possible. </p><p> </p><p>"It's tattoo day, doll!" Theo grins widely at his boyfriend, and honestly, how is Liam supposed to function when he looks so cute and happy.</p><p> </p><p>"It sure is," Liam whispers to Theo.</p><p> </p><p>They are both flushed and bright and awake then, Liam wraps his arms around Theo's waist and breathes him in through the nose. Everything in the room had become <em>them</em>; the smell is a mixture of them, the closet is no longer just owned by Liam, and the bed has two imprints instead of one now. Either of them really enjoyed sharing before, but it didn't seem to matter between the two, old rules were left behind them as their love had blossomed. </p><p> </p><p>"Imma get real burned," Theo giggles, though Liam senses a hint of worry in his voice. </p><p> </p><p>"Burn, baby, burn." </p><p> </p><p>"Funny, you are," Theo wiggles his hips against Liam teasingly before he getting up from the bed and running down the stairs. </p><p> </p><p>Theo is getting his first tattoo, which is quite a process when one heals at the speed of god damn lightning. Scott has done it a few times, so Theo asked him how to get it done, and Derek offered to help him out. Apparently, the tattoo has to be <em>burned </em>visible on the skin, which Liam isn't fond of, but he doesn't control Theo, so he keeps his mouth shut. <em>Be a supportive boyfriend, Liam</em>, he can hear his mother say in his mind. </p><p>Liam's parents sit outside by the little table in the garden. A pot of coffee rests between them on the table, and the boys can hear their muffled voices from inside the kitchen. Theo is fixing them some scrambled eggs and Liam grabs some bread and sticks it in the toaster. It is calm and warm in the house as if the entire place knows it is a Saturday, and Liam soaks it in, letting go of the stress from everyday life. </p><p> </p><p>Soon they are on their way to Derek's and Theo is jittery beside Liam. Their hands are intertwined and Liam can feel the older boy shaking slightly, he reassures Theo with a kiss to the temple and almost falls over trying to reach him on his tippy toes, which makes Theo snort loudly, and Liam figures that may be calming too anyway. The California sun is high in the sky, and it never fails to make the boys break a sweat, which forces them to let go of each other's hands. Occasionally Liam longs for an actual winter with large soft snowflakes and cozy sweaters on the couch by the fire, like in the silly cliche movies, but mostly he enjoys the hot weather.  Theo has literally been to hell, so he doesn't like to complain about the water, <em>anything but hell fire and dead sisters falling from the sky</em>, he usually says.</p><p>Derek is his normal mysterious self, and barely welcomes them with his grunt and pulls out a chair for Theo to sit on. The loft is cool and the windows open, Derek never runs cold, which makes sense given his strange werewolf DNA, however, Liam finds it creepy that anyone could crawl into the loft at any time. This may say more about Liam's current mental state than Derek's window habits, but that's something Liam chooses to ignore. </p><p> </p><p>"You have a design?" Derek asks with a deep voice and sometimes it is honestly as if he tries to sound a certain way. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, hold on."</p><p> </p><p>Theo pulls out his wrinkled drawing from his jeans pocket. The picture is of a small mechanical heart; its veins are chimnies and the valves consist of various metal wheels and screws. It has dark grey shadowing it the edges and between the wheels, which creates a gloomy mood for the drawing. Around the box is a rectangle square that frames it as if it was a picture to be hung on a wall. </p><p> </p><p>"Sick," Derek comments and Liam rolls his eyes</p><p> </p><p>"So I'll tattoo you first and then I'll have to burn it. Sorry man." Derek looks sympathetic as he finds his gear and puts on a pair of rubber gloves.</p><p> </p><p>"It's my own choice so..." Theo smiles weakly at the elder man. </p><p> </p><p>The second the needle hits Theo's skin, he is pulled back into a nightmare. Long sharp nails are picking at his skin, digging into his flesh, and rooming around for his heart. Panic sneaks up on him, burrows its way through his veins, and runs wild in his bloodstream. It is almost unnoticeable at first; like wet paper, you can rib with no force, like a bug so small it doesn’t tickle the skin. Soon it is instead a ghost possessing him, crawling in through his nose and mouth, and it is impossible to breathe. It is ice cold and boiling water spreading inside him, like a raging fire angry at the water suffocating it. Theo’s heart is beating, but it is not his, it is someone else’s heart. He rents someone else’s body, and he is itching and burning to get out. <em>Oh god. Oh god. It is not his. He stole it</em>. The very pits of hell know that he is a thief, a killer, a murderer, and a fraud. Theo is dying and his skin smells horrible as Derek burns the tattoo, everything is falling apart in front of him. Theo isn’t breathing right, he has forgotten how to, it is borrowed air, <em>stolen air</em>. Theo is sure this must be what dying is, time and mistakes have finally caught up to him. </p><p>Suddenly warm arms are wrapped tightly around him, pressing on his chest like heavy rocks. Theo registers a familiar smell, but he doesn’t know where he is anymore, he has no memory at all, it feels like. A voice is saying something, whispering in his ears, but he cannot understand the words. Theo’s thoughts are fragmented, and he tries desperately to remember anything. Anything. </p><p> </p><p>“Breathe with me, love.” Liam, it is Liam’s voice and scent around him. </p><p> </p><p>Theo leans into the arms, the scent and it is all he knows to be true at that moment. He feels Liam’s chest against his back, feels the movement of breath through Liam’s lungs. He tries to follow it, closes his eyes tightly, and focuses on the rhythm behind him. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s it. We are alright, we are just at Derek’s place.” Liam’s voice is calm and collected and his lips brush Theo’s ears.</p><p> </p><p><em>They are at Derek’s</em>, Theo repeats in his mind, <em>they are still above the ground.</em> </p><p> </p><p>Then the tears come, which Theo hates, absolutely <em>hates. </em>Wet hot tears start streaming down his cheeks and drip from the tip of his nose, he wants to wipe his face, but his arms are still heavy and his hands shake violently. He feels Liam's sleeve against his cheek, and his lips against his forehead; he wipes the tears that keep forming in his eyes and showers Theo's face with butterfly kisses from his long lashes. Theo can faintly hear Derek's voice saying something to Liam about water, and he instantly receives a glass of water from the man, who soon after leaves the two boys alone. </p><p> </p><p>"Tell if you guys need anything, and uh- if he doesn't wanna talk I won't mind if you just sneak out," Derek says as he walks into his bedroom. </p><p> </p><p>"Thank you," Liam replies gratefully. </p><p> </p><p>They sit like that for a while. Theo can only feel Liam's body against his and the soft breeze coming from the open windows. The world grows more silent and Theo feels as if he is moving less fast; like the universe isn't anxious and busy any longer. The usual shame Theo experiences after an anxiety attack slowly creeps up on his, and he buries his head further into Liam's shoulder, and as if Liam knows what he is thinking he says:</p><p> </p><p>"It's okay, love, it's just me."</p><p> </p><p>Theo nods against him and sniffles. His breathing is almost even again, so Liam slowly grabs both his arms by the elbow and pulls him into a standing position. Liam rests both hands on Theo's flushed cheeks and looks him in the eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"You did well. You did really well," Liam whispers and closes the space between them with a soft kiss to Theo's lips. </p><p> </p><p>"No, I didn't, Liam," Theo answers, and his eyes fill with fresh tears.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes," Liam takes Theo's chin in between his thumb and index finger, "you came back much faster than last time. That's so good."</p><p> </p><p>Theo doesn't say anything more, but let Liam guide him out of the loft and into Theo's truck. Liam gets into the driver's seat without saying a word, and they drive in silence only their deep breaths to be heard. </p><p> </p><p>"You can talk to be whenever you want, but if you'd rather not I can make a therapy appointment for you tomorrow, "Liam says facing the road. </p><p> </p><p>Theo doesn't answer, he just reaches out and squeezes Liam's hand, and hopes it shows his gratitude for the younger boy. Theo may still feel the shame, may still need the therapy, but it <em>is</em> getting better, he <em>is</em> breathing and he has Liam right there beside him. He isn't alright yet, but he thinks that he may just be on the right track to becoming it. <br/> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>